Russians living high life in South East Asia will see Rubles used for Mahjong chips

1 Russian Ruble equals 0.028 US Dollar

In other words, an American quarter is roughly the equivalent of a Russian currency ruble. 

Looking at it another way, Russian rubles might make interesting Mahjong wager chips.

Russian rubles will likely be reduced to the creating arts and crafts projects when reparations are demanded for the destruction of a Malaysian airliner, taken from the sky today, by a Russian heat seeking missile.

Was it a mistake, deliberate, terrorism or something unforeseen? Whatever the motivation, the cause will support the assessment of the cost of what Russia will have to pay to the Malaysian airlines and to the 265 victims of this airline attack disaster. Indeed, the cost will be extraordinarily high.

Russian President Putin continues to lie about his nation's persistent involvement to stir up trouble in the eastern Ukraine. He lies about this involvement because Russia can't withstand much more in the way of international economic pressure to leave the Ukraine. Therefore, Putin pretends his nation is an innocent victim of the US led international sanctions.  

Meanwhile, the Russian ruble is the value of a US "two bit" quarter, while the billion dollar bill to pay for the exorbitant Putin Olympic games in Sochi will probably never be paid.

When my husband and I visited Southeast Asia a few years ago, we were surrounded by Russians who were doing business, touring and acting like their Oligarch's rubles would last forever.  

Well, even if the Russians swarming Southeast Asia have rubles hiding in the foundation of their beach homes, their reputation among the local people (which was never very good because, frankly, they're "cheap"), will now tank. 

Russia clearly made a horrible humanitarian, and financial mistake by somehow releasing a surface to air heat seeking missile, to attack and destroy an innocent Malaysian airliner, with civilian passengers on board.  Russia will pay for this mistake. Moreover, Putin will undoubtedly be forced to face the court of international opinion, or worse, as a result. Russia may not recover from this attack.  

Worse, terrorist factions within Russia might now have an opportunity to escape their barbed wire encampments and retaliate for the oppression they've experienced as a result of Putin's pogrom of extremists . 

These are dark days for Russians as well as for the governments around the world that must respond to the attack on the innocent Malaysian airliner. 

Regardless of the intention, motivation, mistake or whatever else, the Russians will pay a huge price for this disaster.

Face of New Russia post Sochi was apparently like a Mardi Gras facade

Sochi, Russia's Winter Olympic games, were supposed to unveil the new and modern Russia. It didn't even take the Napoleanic egotist Putin a week to rip the mask off this apparent post games Mardi Gras face. Russia may be yearning for "new", but their leadership is as regressive as during the Cold War.

Incredibly, Russia's invasion of the Crimea, about a week post Sochi, incites a completely unprovoked escalation of world tensions. Even more incredible, Putin has little money to pay for an escalation of his nation's defense.  

In my opinion, if the Ukrainians began to pay their army with US dollars, there would be a defection of Russian troops because it's doubtful the ruble can survive against the strong US currency.

Pitifully, while the world is obviously in condemnation of Russia's invasion of the Ukraine and takeover of Crimea, there's little intestinal fortitude to do much about this aggression.

Meanwhile, the Syrian people continue to suffer a humanitarian crises because Russian President Putin props up the puppet government of the country's evil President Assad.  

Americans are supporting economic sanctions against Russia in retaliation against the evil Putin perpetrates in the name of protecting "Russian people". Obviously, Putin doesn't care about protecting the Syrian people. How about protecting Ukranians?  

An unintended outcome of Putin's maniacal compulsion to bully Russia's "in your face" to the world is to unite Americans. When Americans are united, there's no army or world that can obstruct our resolve. 

President Putin's "new" Russia was obviously like a Mardi Gras facade, a parade for the purpose of showing off for the world. But, at a cost of about 60 billion dollars, the cost hasn't been recovered and the Sochi venue is yet to see a return on investment.

Perhaps a Ukraine takeover was a way for Putin to monopolize the pipeline of energy from Russia to Europe. This would allow Russia to increase the cost of providing energy to hungry Europe and provide a way to fund the Russian enormous debt.

Obviously, Putin's new Russia is in economic trouble and his government cannot sustain a military takeover of anyplace, especially if his military is being paid in worthless rubles.

But, there was a similar situation in the world in 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland.

Putin is a Hitler clone and he must be stopped. Unfortunately, the world let Hitler murder as many as 80 million people before he was eventually defeated.  Let's stop Putin before anybody else has to die as a result of his ruthless ambition.